


Change is in the Air

by reeby10



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alan J. Corbett centric, Alcohol, Backstory, Coffee Shops, First Kiss, Getting Together, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Truth or Dare, mentions of coming out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-26 14:49:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15665397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/pseuds/reeby10
Summary: In one moment, Corbett, the perfect child in a perfect family, decides to change everything in his life. He gets a new job he actually enjoys, comes out to his parents, gets new friends and a new hobby, and maybe, if a game of truth or dare goes right, he’ll get the boy he likes too.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my [WIP Big Bang](https://wipbigbang.livejournal.com/) 2018 fic!! I am _so_ happy to have this done bc it's been a hot second since I started.
> 
> I wrote the first 4k in a sudden surge of inspiration one day in 2014, wrote a couple hundred words a few days after, then... didn't touch it again until I picked it for this bang. Part of that was that I fell out of Supernatural fandom (even though I still love this little ship to pieces), part of it was that I didn't know at all where it was going. Basically it came about in the first place bc I love Corbett and needed to know more about him, but finding an actual plot was difficult. It still doesn't really have a plot, but at least there's kissing lol Honestly, "two idiots somehow get together" is about as much plot as I do usually anyway so.
> 
> I'll post new chapters daily until it's all up.
> 
> The wonderful accompanying art is by ideare. See their masterpost [here](https://amanivuote.dreamwidth.org/18906.html)

Corbett had always done exactly what everyone expected him to.

He was MVP as the first baseman on his high school baseball team and graduated in the top ten percent of his class. He dated a girl whose parents knew his parents, letting her amicably split up with him when she met someone else. He went to college right after high school and studied business on the pre-law track even though it was boring and he would have much rather gone to culinary school.

But his dad was a lawyer and his grandfather had been a lawyer, so that was what he was supposed to do too. His dad had even gotten him a job at a law firm owned by a friend of his while he took a year off before law school. He was following exactly the path he was supposed to and he hated every minute of it.

One little thing was all it took to change everything, to give him the inspiration to completely flip everything about his life. And he never regretted it for a second.

It happened on a Sunday at the local library, or at least that’s where it started. He’d come to check out a few books to start preparing to take the entrance exams for law school, at his father’s suggestion. As he walked in the doors, he noticed a guy about his age, a little shorter than him and with the scruffy beginnings of a beard, putting up a flyer on the community activities board.

The guy was cute and a bit nerdy looking, exactly the kind of guy he’d always wanted to date in high school and college but had never had the guts to actually ask out. Corbett paused just inside the doors to watch him for a moment, wondering what the flyer was for. The guy didn’t even notice him, giving the flyer one last look over before he was out the doors, whistling the theme to GhostBusters.

Corbett thought he was a little bit in love already.

He waited a few minutes to be sure the guy was really gone before going to look at the flyer. It was a pretty simple green flyer with tear off strips with a phone number on the bottom. He tore off one of those before even reading the rest of the flyer, trying to convince himself that he was just really sure he’d be interested in whatever it was, not that he just wanted the cutie’s number.

The flyer turned out to be an ad for an intern for something called the Ghostfacers, which Corbett assumed meant the weird squiggly shape in the background was supposed to be a ghost. There wasn’t much information on the flyer, just that the Ghostfacers was a group that made a webseries about ghosts and investigating hauntings. There was a link to their website and Corbett headed straight to the computers to check it out.

Two hours later, he’d watched everything they had online and read a good chunk of the blog entries, and he was possibly more than a little bit in love with the guy whose name, he discovered, was Ed.

By that time he’d pretty much forgotten all about the studying he was supposed to do, and frankly he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He knew law wasn’t something he’d ever wanted to do, but he’d done it because it was what everyone else wanted him to do. But now… now he’d found something that really caught his interest, that made him feel alive in a way nothing else ever had. And he wanted to hold on to that.

It only took a moment to email his boss and tell him he wouldn’t be coming in the next day, or ever again. He knew both his boss and his father were going to be pissed, but it finally felt like he was taking charge of his own life. His parents were rich and he was sure they’d still support him financially, but he also knew doing nothing for himself would make him feel useless.

He’d always been interested in food and cooking, and there were bound to be some part-time jobs at restaurants or coffee shops that would give him plenty of free time to really figure out who he was outside of everyone’s expectations for him. He’d never really had the chance for that, too busy doing this or that to get ahead and please his parents.

It would be nice to do something a little less stressful as well, and maybe he’d even manage to make some new friends. He’d always had a hard time with that because the people he was supposed to hang out with never had the same interests as him. He’d had to hide his interest in science fiction and comics for a long time, always afraid of ridicule from his peers, but no more. This was the new and improved Corbett, a Corbett who let his geekery shine through and made his own decisions.

By the end of the afternoon, he’d sent in a dozen resumes and ignored four calls from his father and two from his mother. He knew what the calls were about and as much as he was trying to take control of his life, he wasn’t really prepared to face his parents yet. They would love him no matter what, that he was sure of, but he needed a little more time to get his head on straight first.

After sending the resumes, Corbett browsed the library, picking up a stack of books to read through. Most of them were about ghosts or ghost hunters, but more than a few came from the human sexuality section.

He’d known since junior high, when all the other boys couldn’t stop talking about girls and boobs, that he was gay, but it wasn’t something he’d shared with anyone else or even thought about much himself. He’d seen the reactions people got when other boys thought they were gay, and he’d never wanted to subject himself to the teasing and name calling, even if it had rarely gotten really violent or malicious.

Senior year of high school he’d even dated a girl because that’s what boys, especially sons of prominent lawyers, was supposed to do. It hadn’t turned out very well though, and he hadn’t been able to get past kissing and light groping over clothes before she broke up with him. He’d always been a little ashamed of how relieved that made him.

Now was the time to confront that, though, along with everything else. If he was really going to live his life like he wanted, there couldn’t be anything he held back on. It was all or nothing, and he was determined to make it all.

***

He finally left the library at six, stack of books and a few printed resumes in hand. There was a little coffee shop he wanted to apply at in person before heading home. It was his favorite one to go to, quiet and comfortable and with the best coffee he’d ever tasted. It would be perfect if he could get a job there.

Luck was apparently on his side because the owner was manning the register when he came in. He’d met Mr. Cordoba a few times and liked him. He was always kind to the customers, no matter how rude or disdainful they were, and had even given Corbett an extra shot of flavor in his drinks a few times.

“Alan, good to see you!” Mr. Cordoba said as he approached the counter. “What can I get you today?”

Corbett smiled, and waved off the hand that was already reaching for a cup. “Nothing today, Mr. Cordoba, but thank you,” he replied, trying to keep the nervousness from his voice. Deciding to make some changes in his life was quite a different thing than actually making them face to face. “I actually came to see if you had any job openings.”

“I thought you worked at that fancy law firm,” Mr. Cordoba said, tilting his head a little.

“I quit,” Corbett said, smiling wryly. “It wasn’t making me happy and I needed a change.”

Mr. Cordoba nodded, looking thoughtful, then smiled widely. “Well then, you’re in luck,” he said. “Felicity quit last week and I’ve been covering her shifts, but it would be good to have someone else since my arthritis has been acting up. You ever made coffee before?”

“Only at home,” Corbett said with a laugh. “And I think that’s a little different. But I’m willing to learn!”

“I’m sure you are,” Mr. Cordoba said. He rummaged under the counter before pulling up a clipboard, looking at it for a moment before nodding decisively. “How about you come around about ten tomorrow morning? We’ll get all the paperwork done and I can start training you.”

“That sounds great!” Corbett said, feeling a little dizzy with happiness and excitement. Already things seemed to be going his way. “Thank you so much.”

***

Both of his parents’ cars were in the driveway when he got home a little while later. Usually his father only arrived a few minutes before dinner, but he supposed today was an exception. They couldn’t know how much had changed with Corbett since the morning, but the news they had from his father’s friend was probably more than enough to worry them.

It took a few minutes of sitting in the car and practicing deep breathing for him to calm enough to go inside and face them. He’d planned everything out in the library earlier, but it was nerve wracking to have to explain everything to his parents. His life had taken a complete 180 in a single day, they were sure to have a lot to say about it.

“I’m home!” he called as he came in, closing the door behind him.

“Please come to the study, dear,” his mother called, making him wince a little. They only had family meetings in the study when it was something really important, but he supposed this qualified.

His parents were both sitting on the couch, which was a good sign. His father tended to sit behind the desk when he was angry or trying to intimidate. His mother pointed to the chair opposite the couch when she saw him and he nodded, taking a seat. The setup looked a little like an intervention he’d seen on tv once.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Corbett sighed, giving up on waiting them out. It was probably best he started anyway, he didn’t want them to get lost on a tangent over him quitting at the law firm, which was the only part of the story his parents knew so far.

“So I’m sure Mr. Brandley already called you,” he started. His father started to open his mouth, but he held up a hand. “Sorry, can I just explain some things first? It’s… it’s really important to me.”

His parents glanced at each other, worry and concern on their faces, and Corbett felt a pang of guilt. He hadn’t meant to hurt his parents, but all he could do was hope they understood why he’d done what he’d done.

“Sure, honey,” his mother said after a moment.

Corbett nodded and took a deep breath. “I decided I needed a change,” he said. “That’s why I quit the law firm. It wasn’t…” He sighed, shaking his head a little. “I know it may seem like a, a quick or hasty decision, but it’s something I _need_ to do. Something I should have done a long time ago.”

“But why?” his father asked, looking genuinely confused. “And why today?”

“I’m not really sure why today,” Corbett admitted with a small smile. “I saw something this morning and it just made me realize this isn’t what I wanted for my life. I don’t want to go to law school. I know that’s what I’ve been working for, but the truth is… I don’t want to be a lawyer and I never have.”

His mother gasped, hand over her mouth, and his father looked stricken. “You don’t want to be a lawyer?” he asked, making Corbett shake his head a little sadly. “Have we… did we force you to do things you didn’t want to do?”

“No!”

The denial was practically shouted, startling all of them. Corbett flushed at the outburst, but leaned forward, desperate to make them understand, to keep them from feeling guilty about anything. They were staring at him intently, tears in his mother’s eyes, and he had to explain everything.

“You didn’t force me,” he said, voice much quieter. “I didn’t really want to major in business or work at the law firm, but I knew it made you happy, so I did it. I wanted to make you proud and I really hope I have, but today I realized I need to be doing things for me too. I hope you can understand.”

He told them everything, at least as much as he could, and they seemed to understand why he’d done what he had, in high school and college and now. He left out the part about the cute guy, but told them he was going to try to get the internship with the Ghostfacers and that he’d already gotten another job, so they really didn’t have to worry that he would turn into some sort of bum or recluse.

He even told them he was gay, which was probably the hardest part of the conversation, and the part where the tears really started falling for all of them. His parents were supportive and promised to love him no matter what, just like he’d known they would, but it was beyond good to hear them say it and see the tears falling from his father’s eyes as he promised to try harder.

Corbett tried to assure them that they’d done nothing wrong, that they were the best parents anyone could ask for, but he could tell they both felt guilty for what they perceived as them keeping him from being who he wanted to be. A part of him wanted to agree to that, but he knew deep down that he wasn’t ready to face himself before. But now he was.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next few days, the slip of paper with the number for the Ghostfacers seemed to burn a hole in his pocket. He’d taken it out a few times and looked at it, imagining himself getting the intern position, but he hadn’t called yet. Somehow, that seemed the most frightening thing out of all the changes he’d made, even though it had been the catalyst for everything else.

The job at the coffee shop was amazing and he loved it. Mr. Cordoba taught him how to make the best coffee and how to interact with customers. It was so much better than the law firm, where everyone was in a hurry and always griping about deadlines. Corbett could hardly believe that he’d been so lucky.

By Thursday he’d settled into his new life and his parents seemed to have calmed down a lot, even telling him about friends’ sons who might be looking for a guy like him. He felt a little like he might combust from all the blushing when they encourage him to start dating, but in truth he was happier than he could ever remember being.

After work, he went back to the library to return the books he’d gotten. He read them all, more books than he’d voluntarily read in years. The ghost ones varied from interesting to utter crap, but the sexuality ones turned out to be very helpful. His parents were great, but the books provided something a little more concrete in terms of figuring out exactly what was going on in his mind.

He glanced automatically at the community board when he walked in the door and froze. Almost all the tabs on the Ghostfacers’ flyer were gone. He stood in the doorway, staring at it without thinking for he didn’t know how long before someone jostled him, muttering for him to get out of the way.

He apologized in a daze, moving forward until he was a foot away from the flyer. It had been almost a week since the flyer went up and it was entirely possible that they’d already had half a dozen calls and picked an intern. People were obviously interested, even if Corbett himself had been too chicken to call yet.

That was the thought that got him moving again. He rushed inside and dumped his books in the return, apologizing to the librarian at the counter for his haste. He pulled his phone out as soon as he was back outside, retrieving the slip of paper as well and dialing with shaking fingers.

He felt like puking as soon as he heard the first ring, so nervous he was practically vibrating in place. He was so lost in it that he almost didn’t realize someone had picked up and was saying hello in an annoyed voice.

“Oh, uh, hi, sorry,” he managed to get out, flushing in embarrassment and incredibly happy no one was around to see or hear him make a fool of himself. “I’m calling about the Ghostfacers intern position?”

“Oh great, dude!” the voice said. Corbett thought it was Ed, but he’d only ever heard him on videos, so he couldn’t be sure. “Can you come out for an interview like, tomorrow night?”

“Yeah!” Corbett replied, maybe a touch too fast. He winced. He didn’t really want to come off as a desperate weirdo, but that’s probably what was happening.

“Sweet. I’ll get everybody together about eight for the interview.”

***

He spent the rest of the day and the next barely able to contain his nerves. His parents and Mr. Corbata all knew something was wrong, but he didn’t want to jinx it by telling them what was going on. It was his secret, something he wanted to keep to himself in case it all went to hell, because he felt maybe just a little ashamed that it had taken a cute guy and an ad for a ghost hunting group.

Mr. Corbata let him off his shift early, apparently convinced he had a date and was nervous about getting ready. Corbett didn’t have the heart to tell him he was wrong, especially when a part of him was hoping the interview would go well and he might get to something a little more with Ed.

Getting off early turned out to be not as a good an idea as it sounded because it just gave him more uninterrupted time to worry and panic about all the things that could go wrong. He spent the hours before dinner laying in bed, rereading Ghostfacers’ blog posts until he had them practically memorized, which unfortunately didn’t make him any more relaxed.

His parents tried their hardest during dinner, but he was too distracted to do more than push his food around his plate and let their conversation wash over him. He couldn’t decide if it was too soon or not soon enough when it came time to leave.

The drive to Ghostfacers headquarters was relatively short, so Corbett ended up pulling up to the quaint two story house about ten minutes early. He wondered for a moment if he should wait or go ahead and knock on the door, but the decision was taken out of his hands when another car pulled up and a guy got out.

“Hey, dude,” the guy said, smiling. “Are you the one interviewing tonight?”

Corbett nodded, assuming this was one of the other Ghostfacers. Probably the camera guy since he didn’t recognize him. “That’s me,” he replied, trying to look like he wasn’t still nervous as hell. “I’m, uh, Corbett.”

“Great. I’m Spruce. Wanna head into HQ?”

“Sure,” Corbett said, following Spruce up to the house.

They went in without knocking and headed to a door just off the kitchen. There wasn’t anyone else in the house that Corbett could see, but he heard voices talking and laughing when Spruce opened the door.

“I’m here!” Spruce said as they walked into what appeared to be the garage. He flung an arm around Corbett. “Got the intern interviewee too!”

“Fresh meat!” someone shouted, making the others laugh.

Corbett smiled nervously around the room. Harry and Maggie sat on a couch on the far wall, Ed in a nearby chair. As he looked around, Spruce gave him a pat on the shoulder and took his own seat. They all seemed to be waiting for him to speak, which was kind of a lot of pressure. He recognized them all from the web series, but he wasn’t really sure how much of that he should mention. They might find it a little creepy.

“Hi, I’m Corbett,” he finally said, giving an awkward little wave.

“And we are the Ghostfacers!” Ed exclaimed, standing up and flinging his arms out as if to show off the others, or maybe the room. “I’m Ed. This is Harry, Maggie, and of course you’ve met Spruce,” he said in a more inside appropriate voice, pointing to each person in turn.

The interview itself turned out to mostly be Ed and Harry asking random questions about ghosts and video cameras and snacks while Spruce recorded the whole thing on his camera. Maggie interjected every once in awhile, mostly to ask questions about when he worked and if he could get weekends off and if he was afraid of the dark. They all seemed quite interested to hear that he worked at a coffee shop and got free coffee whenever he wanted.

Corbett tried to keep from blushing the whole way through, but he wasn’t sure he was particularly successful, especially with Ed asking most of the questions. He’d wondered if actually meeting Ed would kill his burgeoning crush, but if anything it made it stronger. His beard, the way he waved his hands around while he talked, his numerous geeky references, all of it turned out to be far more adorable than it had any right to be.

Despite his embarrassment, he thought the interview went pretty well. They all seemed pleased with his answers and he really liked the whole atmosphere of the group, the air of excitement and friendship. He thought he’d like them all individually as well if given a chance, which he really hoped he’d have.

***

Ed called the next day while Corbett was working the afternoon shift at the coffee shop. As soon as he saw the number on the screen of his phone, he excused himself to the backroom to take the call. His heart was beating ridiculously fast in fear and hope and he wasn’t sure whether it was a good or bad thing that he was getting a call so soon.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Corbett, this is Ed,” Ed said, voice a little staticy. “Calling about the Ghostfacers internship.”

Corbett nodded before remembering Ed couldn’t see him. “Yeah,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t crack too much. “So, uh, did I get it?”

“Well…” he said, drawing out the word. Corbett felt his stomach drop for a moment before Ed continued. “You got it! Welcome meeting tonight at eight, we’ll provide the snacks for this one since it’s, you know, for you and all. Or well, Maggie and Spruce will. Harry and I can’t really cook.”

“Thank you so much!” Corbett breathed out, smiling so widely he felt like his face might split. He’d really made it in! “This is… wow, that is amazing, thank you!”

Ed chuckled, the sound sending shivers up Corbett’s back. He knew immediately he wanted to hear that sound as often as possible. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” Ed said. “I mean, we’re the freaking Ghostfacers!”


	3. Chapter 3

The next few weeks were a whirlwind. Besides work and his parents trying to foist their friends’ sons on him, there were now meetings with the Ghostfacers. They met nearly every night to train and plan, though it turned out to mostly be a lot of goofing off and reading each other urban legends from the internet. It was even better that he’d let himself imagine.

It was fun hanging out with everyone, even if it meant bringing snacks and picking up after everyone and not having a whole lot of say in the cases they researched. It was awkward a lot of the time, too, but having them to hang out with, having people to depend on, it was all worth it.

The best part of being the Ghostfacers intern, though, was being around Ed. HQ was in Ed and Maggie’s house, so it felt a little like intruding on his space sometimes, but it at least meant he never missed a meeting.

Corbett made sure to not miss any meetings either, and that was only in part because he didn’t want to miss a chance to see his crush. Mostly he wanted to prove to them all that he could be a great intern, maybe even a great regular Ghostfacers member. He wanted to prove that they hadn’t made a mistake in picking him, that he hadn’t made a mistake in basing his entire life change on this chance.

So far he thought he’d made a pretty good choice. He had people that were quickly becoming friends, he had a job he loved, he had a new hobby that interested him. It was going better than he ever would have thought.

The only thing missing was a boyfriend since he’d come out to everyone that mattered and felt free to finally be himself in that respect. He hadn’t outright told the Ghostfacers, but he was pretty sure Maggie and Spruce at least knew. Harry might know, but only if Maggie told him. Ed probably didn’t know because he turned out to be incredibly oblivious to anything like that.

It would have been nice to blame that for the fact that he hadn’t done anything about his crush, but that really didn’t have much to do with it. In truth, he was just plain scared.

He didn’t have much experience dating since he’d been in the closet up until a few weeks ago, and what little experience he had wasn’t going to be worth much. Hannah, the girl he’d dated in high school, had asked him out after encouragement from their parents. They’d only gone on a few dates, none of them all that successful, and only kissed a few times as well.

He knew how to ask someone out and how to date and kiss and more in _theory_ , but the reality seemed way too intimidating. What if he did something wrong? What if he ruined everything by asking Ed out and him not being interested? That was pretty much the worst thing he could imagine.

Still, he knew he wasn’t exactly very subtle about his crush. He found himself stuttering and blushing way more than was normal and a couple times he’d babbled to Spruce and the camera about how great Ed was and how much he liked his beard. It was pretty embarrassing.

His job as intern did have one perk in that department though. He was expected to bring snacks and coffee and if more often than not he brought Ed’s favorites, well, it was totally just a coincidence. Ed hadn’t _told_ him that french vanilla was his favorite coffee after all, he’d just kind of ended up bringing a specially made one every time he had a shift at the coffee shop. It was his job after all, both as a barista and an intern.

Despite the obviousness of his crush to anyone who spent any time around him, including his parents and Mr. Cordoba, Ed stayed seemingly oblivious to his affections. Corbett couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing because on the one hand it meant avoiding any awkward moments where Ed turned him down or freaked out over having a gay guy on the team, but on the other hand it meant there was no chance of seeing if his feelings were returned.

Maggie was the one who broke the stalemate, close to two months after he started as the Ghostfacers’ intern. It wasn’t really all that surprising because although she’d grown up with Ed, she had none of his obliviousness and far more tact.

They were hanging out at headquarters, drinking and eating and playing games since they didn’t currently have any leads on cases. It was “team building” according to Ed and “morale boosting” according to Harry, but Corbett didn’t really care what it was for. He was just happy to be spending some fun time with his friends.

By midnight they were all at least a little drunk and had mostly gotten bored of the board games they found in the Zeddmore house. They needed something else to do because no one really wanted things to end so early.

“I know!” Maggi said, sitting up suddenly from where she’d been curled against Harry. Corbett thought she was a lot less drunk than she’d been acting, but he supposed she needed to keep up the front for Ed since he wouldn’t be very happy if he knew she and Harry were a thing.

“What do you know?” Ed asked. He drained his beer and burped, making them all wince and Maggie smack him in the arm. “Hey!”

“Stop being disgusting,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And what I know is what game we should play now!”

“As long as it’s not more Monopoly, I’m in,” Spruce said, making the others laugh. They’d tried that earlier and it had gone badly to say the least.

“No more board games, promise,” Maggie responded. She looked around the room at them, a sly smile growing on her face.

Corbett started feeling a little anxious, she could be quite devious when she wished, and he could tell the others were too. “What kind of game?” he asked. “Is this a fun kind of game?”

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be fun for some people,” she said vaguely, waving a hand at him in a way that made him even more worried about what she was planning. “We’re going to play truth or dare.”

They all stared at her for a moment with a mixture of confusion and horror. Corbett thought dimly that she was doing this to punish him for something, he just didn’t know what, but that was pretty preposterous. If she was going to punish anyone for anything, it would probably be Ed, and she wasn’t looking particularly angry or vindictive at the moment so that probably wasn’t it.

Spruce was looking the most dubious. “Isn’t that a kids’ game?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

Maggie glared at him and he held his hands up in surrender. “Who cares if it’s a kids’ game?” she replied. “It’s going to be fun! And great for all that team bonding, morale boosting crap.”

“Hey!” Ed and Harry said both at the same time. They turned to high five each other before looking back at her with pitiful faces.

“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Are we going to play or not?”

They all grumbled a little more, but eventually agreed to play. It wasn’t like they really had any better ideas anyway, and it was never a good idea to argue with Maggie. She could fight back with a vengeance when she wanted to.

“Who’s first?”

“As team leader,” Ed said, popping open a new beer, “I feel it is my duty to go first.”

“Right,” Maggie said, and Corbett personally thought it was very big of her not to roll her eyes at Ed’s antics again. It probably did get a bit tiring to roll them every time he opened his mouth, even if most of the time it was deserved. “Truth or dare?”

The first few rounds were quick and easy as they sized each other up. The dares were little things, like chugging a bottle of shitty flavored vodka or Harry trying Maggie’s lipstick or interpretive dance of a pop song. The truths cut a little deeper, though that could have been the haze of alcohol they were all struggling through, some more than others.

Ed especially seemed to be having issues giving answers that were complete enough for his sister. The one about his current crush was especially interesting to Corbett because that was the first time any of them traded a truth they didn’t want to answer for a double dare. It might have been the alcohol, but Corbett could have sworn Ed had glanced at him and blushed.

They went around two more rounds before Corbett was ready to call it quits. He’d drunk quite a bit more than he usually would have, and while he didn’t have to work until the afternoon tomorrow, he wasn’t really interested in making his inevitable hangover worse. Plus, it was after one in the morning by now, and they were all getting more than a little loopy.

“Last one?” Maggie asked, looking around the group.

They all nodded and she grinned. Despite his relief that it was about to be over, he had a bad feeling about what exactly she had planned. Because no matter what, she always had a plan.

“So last one is for you, Ed,” she said. “Truth or dare?”

Corbett watched as Ed glanced around the room, eyes a little glassy with how much alcohol he’d drunk. “Truth.”

Maggie’s grin grew even wider. “Ok,” she said deliberately. “Do you have a crush on Corbett?”

For a moment it was like all the air went out of the room. Everyone went silent as they stared between Maggie, who looked far more amused than she should, and Ed, who had gone rather pale. Corbett suddenly felt very sick to his stomach, excitement and dread and even a little betrayal warring inside him.

“I’ll take the double dare,” Ed said tightly, his eyes not straying from Maggie’s face. For the first time since Corbett had met him, he really looked angry.

“Double dare it is,” Maggie said.

Corbett knew immediately, though he wasn’t really sure how, that Ed had stepped right into whatever trap she’d set. He just wasn’t quite sure what her endgame was. To humiliate Ed and/or Corbett himself? To prove that all the team bonding exercises Harry and Ed insisted on were stupid and pointless?

There was more than a little part of Corbett that wanted to just stand up and leave, maybe tell Maggie she was being cruel with… whatever it was she was doing. But despite the tension right now, he really did love this group. They’d given him a place to belong when he was trying to find his way. They’d given him real friends to hang out with, ones who didn’t care more about his family’s country club membership than him. They’d given him a new start. Surely that had to count for something.

“I dare you to kiss Corbett.”

Every positive thought went out of Corbett’s head in one rush, leaving behind only a ringing that seemed to drown out every other sound. He couldn’t believe Maggie had said that. It was just… too much.

Before he could second guess himself, Corbett was up and stumbling drunkly out the door. He very carefully didn’t look at any of the others as he left, even when he heard his name being called behind him. He couldn’t deal with them right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, cliffhanger :D


End file.
